The two presidents with their respective wives are buried in a
crypt below the entrance vestibule.

This section of the church is a national shrine, open to the
public and maintained by appropriations of the Congress.

JOHN ADAMS (1735-1826)

John was the first son of John Adams and Susanna Boylston of Braintree,
Mass. He enjoyed growing up on his father's farm, was educated for
college, graduated from Harvard, studied law, and then in 1764 married
Abigail Smith of Weymouth, Mass.

His law practice was successful, and it led to his being elected to
serve in the Massachusetts House of Representatives. This began his career
in government, which continued through all his life.

He served in the Continental Congress, the Second Continental Congress,
and was on the committee to draft the Declaration of Independence. The
Declaration, written primarily by Jefferson, was read to the Congress by
John Adams, who spoke with earnestness and patriotism, with strong and able
arguments for rights and liberty with these stirring words: "When in
the course of human events it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve,
etc."

Many members of Congress were opposed to this paper, and there were
strong debates on both sides; but Jefferson said, "Adams was the
ablest advocate and champion of independence on the floor of the house. He
was the Colossus of that Congress. He came out with a power which moved his
hearers from their seats."

Late in 1777, Adams was named by Congress to serve with Benjamin
Franklin as a joint commissioner to France.

Back home, he helped draft the State of Massachusetts Constitution in
1780 with the aim of being "that it may be a government of law and not
of men." He was chosen to travel to the Netherlands to ask for a loan,
then to Paris to sign the Treaty of Paris. He took his sons, John Quincy
and Charles, with him, leaving Abigail to run the farm in Braintree. After
six years abroad, he sent for Abigail, who sailed to France with their 18
year-old daughter, "Nabby." When the treaty was completed, he was
asked to be the envoy to the Court of St. James.

They sent John Quincy and Charles back home to be educated. Abigail and
Nabby went with him to England. John's position was challenging, for
after all, he was representing the former enemy; he asked to be returned to
the U.S.A. Now he continued his career in government by becoming George
Washington's Vice President.

Adams was full of large and noble qualities; he was energetic and
honest, himself, and could not endure hypocrisy. He often responded with a
quick temper and sharp words. Later, as President, he closely followed
Washington's example.

He avoided war with France. He lost favor with the people by passing
what are called the Alien and Sedition Laws. He was in the Federalist
Party, while Jefferson was a Republican, later called the Democratic Party.
Jefferson was elected the next President. Adams left the White House
without greeting the new President, going home to Quincy, Mass. as his
hometown was now named.

In his retirement he wrote articles, which were published by the
newspapers, clearing up misunderstandings that had occurred. Then he was
spoken of as "the noble old John Adams," and finally had the
pleasure of seeing his son, John Quincy, made President. But the most
beautiful thing during these latter days was that he and Jefferson grew to
be friends again and wrote letters to each other as long as they lived.

The hand that had penned the Declaration of Independence -- the greatest
paper in American history -- and the voice that, after calling for it among
the loudest, presented it and plead for it, were both stilled by death on
the fiftieth anniversary of the day in which Congress adopted it, July 4,
1828.

After the Revolutionary War, John Adams was sent to Europe to negotiate
matters concerning peace. He was in the Netherlands in 1782 to ask for a
loan for the new United States of America.

While waiting for the Dutch people and rulers to organize and respond,
John contracted a fever that was very weakening and hard to shake off. He
felt wretched and longed for the ministrations of Abigail, his wife, who
was in Braintree, Massachusetts.

He was so dispirited that he asked his son, John Quincy, to come from
his duties in Russia to be with him. In great desperation he hired a horse
and went riding around the countryside. This fresh air helped to invigorate
him.

After five months the Dutch officials finally called him to their State
House to witness the September 1782 signing of the document between the
Netherlands and the U.S.A. The Dutch loan was for five million guilders at
five-percent interest, the same interest that France was paying the Dutch
and less than other countries charged.

He was elated that his prudence and patience had paid off. Then he was
called to France to deal with the concerns of the "Treaty of
Paris", which formally gave the United States of America independence
from Great Britain.

At the signing of the "Treaty of Paris" on Sept. 17, 1783,
Great Britain acknowledged the independence of the United States of
America. The preliminary Anglo-American articles (which went unchanged)
were signed in November, 1782, after months of tortuous negotiations in
which the chief American plenipotentiaries, John Adams, Benjamin Franklin
and John Jay, acquitted themselves so well that their achievement has been
labeled "the greatest triumph in the history of American
diplomacy."

The stamp is modeled after the historical painting by the American
painter, Benjamin West (living in England), who was to paint the signers of
the treaty. However, the English signers (commissioners) refused to pose
for the painting. David Blossom, designer for this 1983 stamp, altered the
arrangement. He moved John Jay to the center, muddied his face, and put the
English signer, David Hartly, at the other side of the table. This is a
case of artistic (not poetic) license.